Low Turn Out For PTSD Town Hall?

Big information at PTSD event, but a small crowd
Cleveland Daily Banner
By LARRY C. BOWERS Banner Staff Writer
August 17, 2016

The speakers also stressed that PTSD is not a recent malady, but was documented 3,000 years before Christ by horrific experiences in war. Smith said there were 159,000 who suffered out of World War I, and 500,000 from World War II. In the second World War the problem was called “shell shocked.”

In spite of the sparse gathering at Tuesday evening’s Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Townhall Meeting at Keith Street Ministries, the array of speakers delivered a wealth of information.

GUEST SPEAKERS WAIT their turn at the podium Tuesday evening at Keith Street Ministries. The speakers at the PTSD townhall meeting included, from left, Bradley County Veterans Officer Larry McDaris, B. Yvonne Hubbard of the Veterans Center in Chattanooga, Centerstone Military Service’s Executive Director Kent Crossley, veteran LaWanda Jenkins and retired Lt. Gen. Hugh Smith.
BANNER PHOTO, LARRY C. BOWERS

The group was led by Tennessee State Council President Barry Rice of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Bradley County Veterans Officer Larry McDaris, retired Lt. Gen. Hugh Smith of Clarksville, Centerstone Military Services Executive Director Kent Crossley, veteran LaWanda Jenkins, and B. Yvonne Hubbard of the Veterans Center in Chattanooga.

Rice, a PTSD survivor, served as the meeting’s moderator. He spoke of his battles with the affliction following combat in Vietnam.

Other than the speakers, there were a few local veteran officials, members of the Edward G. Sharpe Chapter 596 of Vietnam Veterans which organized the meeting, and family members.

Chapter President James Dean said he didn’t understand the low turnout.

“We placed fliers throughout the community, including the Bradley County Justice Center and Cleveland Police Department,” he said.
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